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Catalogue Reference:CAB/23/27
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jjS DOCUMENT IS THE FRO PERT Y OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJ ESTY* S, GOVERNMENT) .
FINAL COPY NO,.
O . A B I H B I
00 (21).
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet
held-at-JLQ- Downing Street, S*W, on Tuesday, 6th
Dec-ember, 1921, at 12*30 p*m*
PRESENT
THE PRIME MINISTER
(IN THE CHAIR)
e
me Right Hon. A . Chamberlain,
The Right Hon Sir Robert Horae^
G.B.E., K . O . , M.P., Chancellor
of the Exchequers
the Right Hon E Shortt, K C j.
,,P,, Secretary of State for
Some Affairs
The Right Hon. The Marquess Curzon
of Kedleeton, K.G., G.C.S.I.,
G.C.I.E.. Secretary of State for
Foreign Affaire*
fee Right Hon W.S. Churchill,
j,P,, Secretary of State for
-Colonies o
The Right Hon. E.S, Montagu, M.P,
Secretary of State for India.
0
0
0
0
0
0
e
the Right Hon 6 Sir L.
Wos^bingt4m^
irons, Bart., M.P., Secretary
^ State for Waro
The Right Hon. S* Baldwin, M.P.,
President of the Board of Trade
e
b e Right Hen, Sir Alfred h o n d ,
The Right Hon. H.A.L, Fisher, M irv,
President of the Board of Education.
'he Right Hon Sir A, Griffiths
Josoawen, M . P , Minister of
'griculture and Fisheries.
The Right Hon T J* Macnamara,
M.P., Minister of Labour.
0
prbt, M.P., Minister of Healths
0
0
0
0
The Right Hon. Sir Hamar Greenwood,
Bart., K . C , M.P., Chief Secretary
for Ireland.
he Right Hon R. Munro, K.O.,
iiP., Secretary for Scotland
e
0
The Right Hon. Sir Gordon Hewart.,
K.C, , M P , , A11orney-Genera 1.
9
THE FOLLOWING WERE ALSO PRESENT
* Right Hon. The Viscount
UaAian of D rwent. G.C.V.O.,
*0,, Viceroy of Ireland.
Colonel Leslie Wilson, C.M.G., D.S.0,
M.P., Joint Parliamentary Secretary,
Treasury.
f* Lionel Curtis.
Sir Edward Grigg, K:.C.V 0., C.M.G.
?
e
,s
p
p
8
Thomas Jones.
,
' R.B, Howorth........ . . .
?
r
....
,,, .Acting Secretary.
t
*. *........ *Assistant Secretary.
ii
(1)
. *
i
.219
'
With reference to Cabinet 89 (21).,.. Conclusion 1,
the Cabinet had before them a copy of the Articles of
Agreement (CP.3529) which had been signed at 2 3 0 a m ,
0
a
that morning by the British and Irish Delegations..
THE PRE ME MINISTER informed his colleagues that
in his opinion to-day was one of the greatest days in
the history of the British Empire.
Early this morning
a Treaty of Peace had been signed between the represents­
tives of the British and Irish peoples.
The disputes and
friction between the two peoples had been a source of
weakness, not merely to Great Britain but to the Empire
and a permanent settlement of the Irish problem would
enormously incree.se Great Britain s prestige in the
5
world and would show that she wa3 still capable of over­
coming almost JLnsuperable dlf f Iculties*
A just and righteous
settlement of the Irish question was vitally necessary
at the present moment and would have the most beneficial
effects in America and elsewhere.
While some difficulties still remained, the
greatest had been overcome.
Among the latter might
be mentioned m (l) the reluctance of the Irish extremists
to swear allegiance to the King and to repudiate ah
Irish Republic; (ii) the difficulty of inducing people
with hereditary dislike of the British Empire and all
-that it represented to agree to enrol themselves as
members of the Empire; (iii) to make some settlement
acceptable by Ulster, - the rock upon which all previous
efforts had been shattered.
For the first time in the history of Ireland the
extremists had accepted a situation in which it was
open to Ulster to contract out of a united Ireland.
She would under the Articles of Agreement have one month
in which to make up her mind and it must be noted that
the British representatives had adhered absolutely
to the pledges given to Ulster.
Ulster, under the
arrangements would not "be coerced, but if she desired
to exercise the option of remaining with the United
Kingdom, then she must be prepared to share the
burdens and responsibilities of the United
Kingdom for better or worse.
If Ulster remained with Great Britain, it
would be necessary to fix her boundaries afresh
and it had been represented that a Boundary Commission
would possibly give Ulster more than she would lose.
The terras of the Oath to be taken by Members of
the Parliament of the Irish Free State were remarkable
and were better in many respects than the terms of the
Oath of Allegiance ordinarily required in Great
Britain,
The Prime Minister informed the Cabinet of
the difficulties which had been experienced with
the Irish Representatives on the previous evening,
and it was only at the very end that those
representatives had eventually agreed to the terms
now incorporated in C .Pc3529.
t
In conclusion the Prime Minister stated that
speaking for himself and for his colleagues on the
Irish Committee he desired to say how. deeply indebted
they all felt to their colleagues in the Cabinet for
the absolute trust and loyalty which had been displayed
during the negotiations.
Success would have been
impossible but for the absolute confidence which
the Cabinet had reposed In the British Representatives.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
said that he wished to exp]ess the unanimous feeling
of gratitude which filled every member of the Cabinet
towards the Prime Minister and his colleagues for
the part which they had played in the recent
negotiations.
The settlement of the Irish
difficulty was one of the most remarkable events
in the history of the British Empire and It
represented an astonishing victory for the Empire
which would have Incalculable effects throughout
the whole world and in particular would remove a
dark cloud which had hung for years over Great
Britain a relations with the United States of
8
America^
The most cordial thanks of the Cabinet
were due to the Prime Minister and his colleagues
who had given months of anxious thought and time
to this problem, had shown unlimited patience and
forbearance, had maintained an unfailing fidelity
to the pledges given and had shown throughout
Indomltible courage.
All would, he/elt sure,
agree that the success attained was mainly
attributable to the skill, wisdom, ability and
foresight displayed by the Prime Ministers and h e ,
Lord Curzon was proud to have the privilege on
this occasion of expressing the views of the Cabinet,
The Cabinet unanimously agreed :^
(1)
(ii)
to express their enltre approval
of the settlement effected and of
the attitude adopted by the British
Representatives throughout the
negotiations, and
to associate themselves with the
remarks made by the Secretary 6£
State for Foreign Affairs.
(2.)
In the:- courae-*xf""th^
reference was made to the fact that the Articles of
Agreement were to be submitted forthwith by His
Majesty's GrO-^errnment for the approval of Parliament
and by the Irish representatives to a Meeting summoned
for the purpose and the members elected to sit in
the House of Commons for Southern Ireland.
The latter
Meeting would take place In about seven days time and it
was urged that as evidence of good faith the British
Parliament should be summoned immediately for the
sole purpose of ratifying the Articles of Agreement.
It was suggested that the State Opening of
Parliament should un this occasion be made as
impressive as possible and that Companies from all
the Regiments of Guards with massed bands shotild be
stationed in the neighbourhood of the Houses of
Parliament.
The Cabinet were informed that His Majesty the
King was overjoyed with the result of the negotiations
and that it was His Majesty's intention t*s cone
specially ta London io-rr&rrow for the Meeting of the
Privy Council for the summoning of Parliament
e
The Cabinet agreed:­
(i)
That a Committee composed of The Prime Minister (Chairman)
The Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs,
The Secretary of State for ar,
The Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Viscount FitzAlan,
The First Commissioner of ^orks
vf
HiCQU^alken
(Secret ary)
should make arrangements in connection with
the State Opening of Parliament.
til)
That in order to mark the very special
occasion the Clerk to the Privy Council
should be requested to summon to the
Meeting cf the Privy Council to-norrow
all the Members of the Cabinets and the
Viceroy.
;t£H
(3)
The' ^fCrlx^i^mT^
st-ion had
been "made that Parliament should be summoned to meet
^ifimentary
cedure.
on "Wednesday, December 14th for the sole purpose of
approving or disapproving the Articles of Agreements
This would be in accordance with the precedent set
at the time of the Union.
It was contemplated that
after an address in reply had be5n made to His
Majesty's speech, Resolutions would be introduced
in the House of Commons and subsequently in the House
of Lords and. on their passage through both Houses a
joint address would be presented to His Majesty
expressing approval of the Articles of Agreement.
Parliament would then be prorogued and not adjourned.
It was pointed out that under this procedure
there might be two debates, one on the King's speech
and a second on the Resolutions
e
Moreover it would
be difficult to prevent other subjects being discussed.
A suggestion was then made which met with considerable
support that the Resolutions should be introduced
simultaneously into the House of Commons and the
House ef Lords.
It was then pointed out that if the precedent of
the Union Resolution was followed it vaould be very
difficult to get the Resolutions passed before
Christmas and it was suggested that separate
Resolutions were not really necessary and that the
address in reply to His Majesty's" Speech could be
drafted in such a form as to obviate the need for
separate Resolutions.
The Cabinet agreed —
To r-equest the Lord ^rivy Seal and the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
to consider the question of Parliamentary
procedure and to decide on the best
course to adopt, having regard to the
considerations indicated in the discussions
- ---jffion*errt.-^hare were about 3,000 men interned, in Ireland,
against whom no charge had been, rno.de, and that it
would-be most difficult to keep them in prison
throughout the winter.
The proposal, had, therefore,
been made that directly the Articles of Agreement
had been approved by the British Parliament, and
ratified by the Irish Parliament, H.h, The King
should be advised to order the release of the
internees.
The Cabinet agreed
( 1 ) That H.u. The King should not be
advised, to release the Irish internees
until after Bail Eireann had ratified
the Articles of Agreement;
(2) That special consideration would have
t- be given later on to the question
of Irish prisoners in connection with
any possible amnesty legislation which
might be necessary,
HM3X3 TO THE
HIEF SECRETARY
OR IRELAND.
5,
The attention of the Cabinet was drawn to
criticism which might be expected on the lines that
the settlement now effected might equally have been
reached some time ago.
?
It was generally agreed,
however, that a year ago Sinn Fein would not have
entertained or even agreed, to discuss proposals similar
to those which the Irish Representatives had now signed,
and that the change In the attitude of Sinn Fein was
mainly attributable to the rough treatment
to
which the Irish extremists had been subjected -during
the last twelvemonths, and which had brought home to
the men In the field the need for some equitable
compromise,
/The
t
Tho- Prime- Ministers -on-behalf of his-colleagues,
warmly congratulated the Chief Secretary for Ireland
on the able and cpxirageous manner in which he had
throughout discharged the very difficult and dis­
agreeable duties entrusted to himj but for the
way in which the decisions of the Cabinet had been
enforced by the Irish Executive, and particularly
by the Chief Secretary, the present settlexaent would
never have come about.
The Cabinet unanimously
endorsed the vlev-s expressed by the Prime Minister.
3 PROVISIONAL
VERNfciEMT F O R
IUTHERN IRELAND.
iDING
OF
HOLES O F
83Snj33?T-.
THE
6,
The Cabinet agreed
­
That the Chief Secretary for Ireland
and his advisers should consult together
forthwith on the arrangements n e c e s s a ^
for setting up a Provisional Government
in Southern Ireland, in the event of
the acceptance, by Bail Eireann of the
Articles of Agreement.
7*
The Cabinet were informed that the Irish
Representatives wore anxious that the Articles of
Agreement should bear the word "Treaty" in the headin
ixits u c t u i n w u
egreeu. --
That there was no objection to
this proposal.
3LICATI0K O F THE
8 . After the Cabinet had been informed that
HOLES O F
Sir James Craig would receive the Articles of
SSshEHT.
Agreement about mid-day to-day, it was agreed ­
(li That the Articles of Agreement
should be given to the Press
this afternoon, for publication
In to-morrow's papers; and
(2) That in his speech this evening
the Lord Privy Seal should announce
that the Articles had been signed
this morning by all the Irish and
British Representatives, and. that
the British Representatives had
signed with the unanimous approval
of the Cabinet,
9*
The Cabinet agreed -—
That a Draft Summary of the Articles
of Agreement should be prepared and
submitted to the Departments cono-erned,
with a view to despatch to H,fUH.
Prince of tfeles, M r Balfour, the Viceroy­
of India and the Dominion Premiers
respectively!,
0
2, Whitehall Gardens, S.T/
6th December, 1921i